It Is Written

The Price of Freedom

Three Angels Broadcasting Network

Program transcript

Participants: John Bradshaw

Series Code: IIW

01:32 [hopeful anthem]
01:51 I'm John Bradshaw, and this is It Is Written.
01:54 Thanks for joining me today. This is Gettysburg,
01:57 Pennsylvania, the site of the Battle of Gettysburg, the
02:00 most famous battle of the American Civil War.
02:03 Today, the old battlefields of Gettysburg look a whole
02:07 lot like they did a century and a half ago.
02:09 A lot of effort has been taken to keeping the
02:11 Gettysburg battlefields in condition as original as
02:15 possible. The American Civil War lasted
02:18 four years, from 1861 to 1865.
02:22 Thousands of people perished during the American Civil
02:26 War, 700,000 is the number that is often quoted today
02:30 and several thousand individuals died here at
02:33 Gettysburg. Today, we refer to the war as
02:37 the American Civil War. But down through time, it has
02:39 been called a number of different things.
02:41 It was called the war between the states.
02:44 The South referred to it as the war of succession.
02:46 Immediately after the war, the North called it the war
02:50 of rebellion. There's a lot of controversy
02:53 over what actually brought about the start of the
02:55 American Civil War, but the facts are these.
02:58 Eleven southern states declared their succession
03:01 from the United States and began to call themselves the
03:04 Confederated States of America or, The Confederacy.
03:08 The remaining 25 states remained loyal to the United
03:11 States Government, and they became known as The Union.
03:15 After this split, really, fighting was simply
03:19 inevitable. One fact most people will
03:22 agree on is that slavery was a central issue in the Civil
03:27 War. The controversy became so
03:30 intense, so hot, that it brought about the end of some
03:32 political parties, including the Wigs and the No Nothing
03:35 party. And it caused the Democratic
03:37 party to be split in two, between the North and the
03:40 South. But the violence wasn't
03:43 contained only to the battlefield.
03:46 In fact, on the floor of the US Senate, a South Carolina
03:51 Congressman by the name of Preston Brooks, violently
03:54 assaulted a Republican politician by the name of
03:57 Charles Sumner. He beat him so badly that he
04:00 beat him almost to death. The reason for this violent
04:04 assault is that Sumner insulted Southern slave
04:07 owners and one of Brooks' own relatives as referring to
04:10 them as pimps for slavery. At the start of the Civil
04:15 War, there were 9 million people living in the American
04:18 South. Four million of them were
04:20 slaves, almost 50% of the population.
04:24 Slavery was a dark episode in the history of the United
04:28 States. Slavery has existed for
04:31 thousands of years. The Bible not only mentions
04:36 slavery but it provides guidelines as to how slaves
04:40 should be treated. And if a man smite his
04:43 servant, his slave, or his maid with a rod and he die
04:48 under his hand, he shall be surely punished and if he
04:51 smite out his manservant's tooth, or his maidservant's
04:54 tooth, he shall let him go free for his tooth's sake.
04:58 That's Exodus 21: 26, 27. Now let's not be confused by
05:04 this and think that because the Bible says that that God
05:07 somehow approves of slavery. God certainly does not.
05:12 In fact, it says this in Acts 17:24-26.
05:18 God that made the world and all things therein seeing
05:21 that he is Lord of heaven and earth, dwelleth not in
05:24 temples made with hands, neither is worshipped with
05:27 men's hands as though he needed anything, seeing he
05:30 giveth life to all, and breath and all things, and
05:34 hath made of one blood all nations of men for to dwell
05:38 on all the face of the earth and hath determined the times
05:41 before appointed and the bounds of their habitation.
05:45 In fact, it was Jesus who said in Luke 6:27-31, love
05:48 your enemies, do good to them which hate you, bless them
05:53 that curse you and pray for them which despitefully use
05:57 you and unto him that smiteth thee on the one cheek, offer
06:00 also the other. And him that taketh away thy
06:03 cloak forbid not to take your coat also.
06:06 Give to every man that asketh of thee, and of him that
06:09 taketh away thy goods, ask them not again.
06:13 And as ye would that men should do to you, do ye also
06:16 to them likewise. Unfortunately, many people
06:20 during the Civil War didn't see it that way.
06:22 What's tragic is that religious slave holders
06:26 professed Christians used the slavery guidelines found in
06:30 the book of Exodus to say that God actually supported
06:34 slavery. President Abraham Lincoln saw
06:37 this for what it really was. In a letter that he wrote to
06:40 Reverend Dr. Ide, dated May 30, 1864, he said this:
06:46 "Those professedly holy men of the South met in semblance
06:50 of prayer and devotion and in the name of Him who said 'as
06:55 you would all men should do unto you, do ye even so unto
06:58 them', appealed to the Christian world to aid them
07:02 in doing to a whole race of men as they would have no man
07:08 do unto themselves. To my thinking they contemned
07:12 and insulted God and his church, far more than did
07:16 Satan when he tempted the Saviour with the Kingdoms of
07:19 the Earth." We can thank God that slavery
07:22 has been abolished. Mauritania was the last
07:25 country in the world to abolish slavery and did so in
07:27 1981. However, because sin is what
07:31 sin is, slavery still exists. They say that because of
07:34 human trafficking, there are more slaves in the world now
07:37 than at any other time in human history.
07:41 I'm here in Gettysburg, in a store, a shop, that houses
07:44 many Civil War artifacts, including implements that we
07:47 used in slavery. These two items here that you
07:51 see are collars worn around the necks of slaves.
07:55 They are genuine and they were used.
07:58 The protruding spikes are there to discourage slaves
08:02 from trying to escape. If they tried to escape, the
08:05 spikes would get caught in underbrush or growth or
08:08 branches or so on and would lead to the slaves being
08:12 recaptured which, of course, would not be pretty.
08:18 The LORD looked down from heaven upon the children of
08:20 men, to see if there were any that did understand, and seek
08:24 God. They are all gone aside, they
08:27 are all together become filthy: there is none that
08:31 doeth good, no, not one.
08:39 [Music]
08:50 We hear it all the time─ God is all-powerful!
08:52 God is love! Yet in the back of our minds,
08:55 there lurks a question. If God is so powerful and
08:58 so loving, why is there so much suffering?
09:01 If there's a devil behind all this, where did he come from?
09:03 Now these are valid questions and the Bible addresses them
09:07 all. If you'd like to see what the
09:09 Bible says on this subject, let me send you a booklet called
09:11 “Why Does God Allow Suffering?” It is absolutely free.
09:14 Just call 1 (800) 253-3000 and ask for "Why Does God
09:19 Allow Suffering." If the line's busy,
09:21 do keep on trying. Or write to: It Is Written,
09:24 P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga, Tennessee, 37401,
09:29 and we'll mail a free copy to your address in North America.
09:32 It Is Written is a faith-based ministry supported by people
09:34 like you. Your help makes it possible for
09:37 us to share God's good news with the world.
09:40 Your tax-deductible gift can be sent to the address on your
09:42 screen, or you can support us online at ItIsWritten.com.
09:47 Thank you for your continued prayerful support.
09:49 Our toll-free number is 1 (800) 253-3000, and
09:53 our web address is ItIsWritten.com.
09:58 [fanfare]
10:13 It's time for today's Bible question.
10:16 A friend of mine says we need to keep the 10 commandments
10:19 in order to go to heaven. But my preacher says that the
10:22 law was nailed to the cross and because of Jesus, we no
10:26 longer need to keep the law. He said something about the
10:30 law being an old covenant and now since the cross, all we
10:33 need is grace. Now wouldn't that be a funny
10:37 thing! Jesus telling people that
10:39 it's okay to disobey him now. Can you imagine that?
10:43 Jesus saying it's okay to commit adultery?
10:45 It's okay to steal. It's okay to kill because we
10:48 are under a new covenant. If grace is a ticket for
10:52 people to live spiritually irresponsible lives, than
10:55 grace is something we could do without.
10:58 Let's be clear. Salvation is given by grace
11:02 through faith. It's free.
11:04 It's a gift. We cannot earn it by our
11:06 obedience or anything else. The gift of salvation is not
11:10 conferred based upon our performance.
11:13 But let's balance that. Look on the other side of the
11:16 coin. What about once a person has
11:18 come to Jesus and has received salvation.
11:21 How should they live then? Jesus said this in John
11:25 14:15. If you love me, keep my
11:29 commandments. Saved people will obey God
11:33 which isn't to say they will never make mistakes, but
11:35 their life is one characterized by obedience
11:38 and growing in obedience. Love for God brings obedience
11:42 into a person's life. Revelation 14:12 describes
11:46 the saved when it says: "Here are they that keep the
11:49 commandments of God and the faith of Jesus.
11:52 It isn't that their commandment keeping earned
11:54 them salvation but because Jesus had come into their
11:58 lives, their lives became lives of obedience, lives of
12:02 honoring God. When you love someone, you
12:04 want to please that someone and it pleases God that we
12:07 obey him, that we keep his commandments.
12:11 Look in the Bible. It does not teach us that
12:14 grace means we are free to run off and sin.
12:17 It's because of grace that we don't want to do that because
12:20 we know it hurts God. If you have a question that
12:24 you would like answered, go to our website:
12:26 itiswritten.com and click on the "Questions" tab.
12:30 Submit your question and in a future program, we might be
12:33 able to answer your Bible question.
12:37 [fanfare]
12:44 You can't really have the discussion about slavery in
12:46 the United States of America without mentioning the name
12:49 Frederick Douglas. Frederick Douglas was born
12:52 a slave in Talbot County, Maryland in 1818.
12:56 Now because slave mothers weren't allowed to raise
12:58 their own children, he never did know the exact date of
13:01 his birthday. When he was about 12 years
13:04 old, his owners' wife began to teach him the alphabet,
13:08 despite the fact it was illegal to teach slaves how
13:11 to read. Frederick Douglas would
13:13 describe her as a kind woman. She said that she treated him
13:17 the way one human being ought to treat another.
13:20 Now, when the slave master found out what was going on,
13:22 he strongly disapproved. He said this must not happen.
13:26 Frederick must not learn how to read because should a
13:29 slave learn to read, why then a slave would want to learn
13:32 to write. And should a slave learn how
13:34 to right, then a slave would be wanting his own freedom.
13:39 Later, Douglas described these words as the first
13:43 decidedly antislavery lecture that he would ever hear.
13:48 In spite of his owner's discouragement, Frederick
13:50 Douglas did learn to read. He learned from white
13:53 children living in his neighborhood and by looking
13:56 at the written materials owned by the men with whom he
13:58 worked and then Douglas escaped.
14:02 He fled to New York and he became an advocate for the
14:05 abolitionist movement and once a free man, Frederick
14:09 Douglas had some very interesting things to say
14:12 about slavery. "From my earliest
14:16 recollection, I date the entertainment of a deep
14:19 conviction that slavery would not always be able to hold me
14:23 within its foul embrace. And in the darkest hours of
14:27 my career in slavery, this living word of faith and
14:31 spirit of hope departed not from me but remained like
14:35 ministering angels to cheer me through the gloom.
14:40 It was as though Frederick Douglas, even though he had
14:42 been raised to believe that he was nothing more than
14:44 cattle, always suspected that slavery was wrong.
14:47 It was something it seems in the back of his mind that
14:50 always told him that that was the case.
14:52 And do you think that Douglas' case was unique or
14:55 did the other slaves feel the same way?
14:58 Of course they did. They had the reminders around
15:00 them all of the time as to what their true condition
15:02 really was. They were owned by somebody
15:05 else. They often had irons weighing
15:07 them down. They often felt whips cutting
15:10 into their backs and they heard the cruel words of
15:12 their masters. They recognized that they
15:15 were slaves because those reminders were around them
15:18 all of the time. Their lives told them what
15:21 they really were. But you might be surprised to
15:25 know that there are many people today who don't
15:27 realize that they are in bondage.
15:29 In fact, you might be one of them.
15:33 Find out more in just a moment.
15:38 [Music] Every word is a one minute
15:39 Bible-based daily devotional presented by pastor John
15:42 Bradshaw and designed especially for busy people
15:45 like you. Look for Every Word on selected
15:48 networks or watch it on-line everyday on our website,
15:51 itiswritten.com.
15:55 [upbeat music]
16:03 Back in 1988 Presidential Candidate George H W Bush
16:06 addressed a large audience at his party's National Convention
16:10 and said, "Read my lips, no new taxes."
16:15 That was a promise, and he meant it.
16:18 But promises can be hard to keep, and even politicians find
16:21 that on occasions their promises can be harder to keep than they
16:24 thought when they made them. Later, President Bush wanted to
16:28 reduce the budget deficit and so some taxes were raised -
16:31 and the one-term President Bush wasn't reelected - the broken
16:35 promise, many say, was a a key factor in his defeat.
16:38 Many people make promises to God and find they can't keep them.
16:42 "I'll do better, I won't do that again, I'll never commit
16:45 that sin .... Ever again..."
16:47 - all promises that sound good but are actually doomed to fail.
16:52 In Philippians 3:9 Paul wrote, "and be found in Him, not having
16:57 my own righteousness, which is from the law, but that which is
17:00 through faith in Christ, the righteousness which is from God
17:04 by faith." Our righteousness doesn't come
17:08 from us trying to do better. Paul knew the righteousness
17:11 he needed was Christ's righteousness, the only
17:14 righteousness that can open the gates of heaven to us.
17:18 And Paul makes clear that the only way he could get that
17:20 righteousness was through faith, and not by trying harder.
17:24 I'm not saying there's no effort involved in being a Christian,
17:27 because there certainly is. But the greatest effort we can
17:30 make in our Christian experience is the effort to surrender to
17:34 God, and allow Him to make our heart His own.
17:37 If we can learn to yield to God, to surrender, He'll give us His
17:41 righteousness - the only kind of righteousness that will do us
17:44 any good. You can make promises to God,
17:46 but it's better to believe God's promises to you.
17:50 I'm John Bradshaw for It Is Written.
17:51 Let's live today by Every Word.
17:55 [Music] Planning for your
17:58 financial future is a vital aspect of Christian Stewardship.
18:02 For this reason, It Is Written is pleased to offer free planned
18:05 giving and estate services. For information on how we can
18:08 help you, please call 1.800.992.2219.
18:13 Call today or visit our special website: www.hislegacy.com.
18:24 Frederick Douglas has said that the pathway from slavery
18:27 to freedom is knowledge. And he was absolutely right.
18:31 You know, there are so many people in this world today
18:34 who are slaves but they are unaware of their true
18:36 condition. They are born into bondage
18:40 and unless the truth reaches them, they will never be
18:43 free. Well, what kind of slaves am
18:46 I talking about? Jesus said this in John 8:34
18:50 to 36, Most assuredly I say to you, whoever commits sin
18:56 is a slave of sin. And a slave does not abide in
19:00 the house forever but a son abides forever.
19:04 Therefore, if the Son makes you free, you shall be free
19:08 indeed. Whoever commits sin is the
19:11 servant or the slave of sin. If we have sinned then we
19:17 have become slaves and the Bible says that all have
19:20 sinned and have come short of the glory of God.
19:23 But, here is the thing. While most people would
19:26 recognize I have made a mistake or two, most people
19:28 would not go that step further and say that as a
19:31 sinner, I have become enslaved, I am in bondage, I
19:34 am in chains. As a sinner, I am the servant
19:38 or the slave of sin. And the most dangerous thing
19:42 about this is that people might be born into a world of
19:44 sin and think that they are okay.
19:47 Yes, I stumble. Yes, I do this.
19:49 Yes, I err. I am faulty.
19:52 But I am okay. When perhaps they are
19:56 anything but okay. We have been talking about
20:00 the social climate in the 1800's that brought about the
20:02 conditions whereby people accepted slavery and I know
20:06 many people that I have spoken to have shaken their
20:09 head and they have said, "how could people accept such an
20:12 atrocity as though it's okay."
20:15 Well, I'll tell you this during the 1860's, the
20:18 churches of the South signed a document stating their
20:22 support for slavery. In an open letter to the
20:25 Christians of the world, the leaders of the churches of
20:28 the confederacy wrote a letter in which they said
20:31 this: "And we testify in the sight of God, that the
20:35 relation of master and slave among us, however we may
20:39 deplore abuses in this as in other relations of mankind,
20:43 is not incompatible with our wholly Christianity.
20:47 And that the presence of the Africans of our land is an
20:50 occasion of gratitude on their behalf before God.
20:54 Seeing that thereby Divine providence has brought them
20:57 where missionaries of the cross may freely proclaim to
21:01 them the word of salvation and the work is not
21:04 interrupted by agitating fanaticism.
21:07 The South has done more than any people on earth for the
21:11 Christianization of the African race."
21:14 Now this statement was not made by some obscure group of
21:17 believers. This was written and signed
21:21 by the leaders of the Baptist, Methodist Episcopal,
21:25 Methodist Protestant, Presbyterian, Lutheran and
21:29 German Reformed Churches just to name a few.
21:33 Now in contrast to this, listen to what Frederick
21:35 Douglas had to say about Christian slave-owners.
21:39 I assert most unhesitatingly that the religion of the South
21:43 is a mere covering for the most horrid crimes,
21:47 a justifier of the most appalling barbarity.
21:50 A sanctifier of the most hateful frauds and a dark
21:53 shelter under which the darkest, grossest and most
21:57 infernal deeds of slaveholders find the strongest
21:59 protection, I should regard being the slave of a religious
22:03 master the greatest calamity that could befall me,
22:07 for all of the slaveholders with whom I have ever met,
22:10 religious slaveholders are the worst.
22:15 Now, let me make something abundantly clear.
22:17 I'm not bringing any of this up to be critical of anybody.
22:20 I am not trying to criticize any religious groups and I
22:23 certainly am not trying to throw the South under the
22:27 bus. But here's the point.
22:29 Here's what we really have got to understand.
22:32 Without the power of God in our lives, left to ourselves,
22:38 left in a state of being the captives, the slaves of sin,
22:43 all we've got to look forward to is lives of sin and anger
22:48 and malice and lust and ....and slavery.
22:53 I know it's easy to look back on the past and wag our
22:55 finger at those who come before us and criticize them
22:58 for their ignorance, and say "how could they?"
23:00 But the truth is this. With a heart of stone.
23:04 Without the regenerating power of the Holy Spirit in
23:06 our lives that's what we are all like.
23:09 The bible says all have sinned and have come short of
23:12 the glory of God. But there is a way out.
23:16 No, it's not will-power. No amount of will-power is
23:19 going to break the chains that bind you in sin.
23:21 No pledge, no promise, no accountability partner.
23:25 No, that's not what gets the job done.
23:28 There's one way to get out of the shackles of sin and
23:31 that's through Jesus. Remember that verse we looked
23:34 at before, from John 8. Therefore, if the Son of God
23:37 shall make you free, you shall be free indeed.
23:40 Isaiah 43:11 says this: "I, even I am the Lord, and
23:45 beside me, there is no other."
23:48 So, what do you do when you find yourself living a life
23:50 where you say "There's no power and I'm stuck in a rut,
23:53 I'm stuck in an old way, I'm stuck someplace I don't want
23:56 to be." What do you do?
23:58 There's one thing to do. When you find that sin has
24:01 the mastery over you, call out to Jesus.
24:05 You can do that. No, God is not some cosmic
24:08 cop with a big stick looking to punish you or looking to
24:11 send you off to hell, if that's what he was all about,
24:13 he could have done that long ago.
24:15 Instead, the Bible says this in John 3, not verse 16, but
24:19 verse 17. It says this: For God did not
24:22 send his Son into the world to condemn the world, but
24:25 that the world through him might be saved.
24:29 Paul wrote to Timothy, and he said in 1 Timothy 1:15 that
24:33 Jesus Christ came into the world to save sinners.
24:38 The writer of the book of Hebrews said in Hebrews 7
24:41 that Jesus is able to save to the uttermost those who come
24:45 to God through Him because he lives to make intercession
24:48 for us. If you desire a new life,
24:52 freedom from the old ways, freedom from the old habits,
24:55 if you want that power that comes from Jesus Christ, all
24:58 you need do is ask Jesus to come into your life and he
25:02 will. It's as simple as that.
25:04 And then, when you are tempted to put somebody else
25:06 down, when you are tempted to engage injustice or
25:10 oppression, when you are tempted to be drawn into that
25:14 old life again, here's what you do.
25:16 You turn your eyes upon Jesus.
25:18 And the old song says "look full in his wonderful face"
25:22 and when you do, you'll experience a newness in our
25:25 life, a power in your life. It's real.
25:28 You can experience it today. Paul wrote in 2 Corinthians
25:32 5:17, if anybody is in Christ, that person becomes a
25:37 new creature. Old things are passed away.
25:40 Behold, all things become new.
25:44 What do you want to be made new in your life today?
25:47 Well, let me put it another way ...
25:49 what are you a slave to? What is keeping you down?
25:52 What is holding you back? Is there something?
25:55 You can invite Jesus to take that away and replace it with
25:58 the power of his presence today, now, and he will do it
26:02 for you. Years after Frederick Douglas
26:05 found his freedom, he wrote these words: I have often
26:09 been asked how I felt when first I found myself on free
26:13 soil and my readers may share the same curiosity.
26:18 There was scarcely anything in my experience about which
26:21 I could not give a more satisfactory answer.
26:24 A new world had opened upon me.
26:27 If life is more than breath and a quick round of blood, I
26:31 lived more in one day than in a year of my slave-life.
26:35 It was a time of joyous excitement, which words can
26:38 but tamely describe in a letter written to a friend
26:41 soon after reaching New York, I said, I felt as one might
26:45 feel upon escape from a den of hungry lions.
26:48 Anguish and grief, like darkness and rain, may be
26:52 depicted but gladness and joy, like the rainbow, defy
26:57 the skill of pen or pencil. Frederick Douglas experienced
27:02 freedom from slavery and you can experience freedom from
27:07 the slavery of sin through Jesus when you accept him
27:10 into your life. Would you do that now?
27:13 Let's pray together. Our Father in heaven, we
27:16 thank you today for freedom in Jesus.
27:20 We thank you, Lord, that through Christ, we can true
27:23 freedom, no longer the servants or the slaves of sin
27:27 but the servants only of the God of heaven.
27:29 We thank you for new life. We accept it gratefully.
27:34 Lord, let your son Jesus live his life in us and we pray
27:39 with thanks today for freedom in you.
27:42 In Jesus' name, Amen.
27:52 [Music]
28:14 We hear it all the time, 'God is all-powerful!
28:17 God is love!' If God is so powerful and so
28:19 loving, why is there so much suffering?
28:22 If you'd like to see what the Bible says on this subject,
28:25 let me send you a booklet called, "Why Does God Allow
28:27 Suffering?' free, just call:
28:30 1 (800) 253-3000 and ask for "Why Does God Allow Suffering."
28:35 If the line's busy, do keep on trying.
28:38 Or write to: It Is Written, P.O. Box 6, Chattanooga,
28:41 Tennessee, 37401, and we'll mail a free copy to
28:45 your address in North America. It Is Written is a faith-based
28:48 ministry; and your support makes it possible for us to share
28:52 God's Good News with the world. Your tax-deductible gift can be
28:56 sent to the address on your screen, or through our website
28:59 at ItIsWritten.com. Thank you for your continued
29:02 prayerful support. Again, our toll-free number is
29:06 (800) 253-3000, and our web address is ItIsWritten.com
29:15 Thanks for joining me today. Look forward to seeing you
29:17 again next time. Until then, remember,
29:19 It is written, man shall not live by bread alone but by
29:23 every word that proceeds from the mouth of God.
29:27 [Music]

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Revised 2017-01-04